A day earlier, Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk said that Washington had handed over a batch of US Zuni 127mm caliber unguided air-to-surface missiles to Kiev. This ammunition was developed in the 50s of the XX century and was actively used during the years of the Vietnam War. In a modernized version, it is still in service with the United States, which announced on January 6, 2023 that 4000 of these NARs would be included in the next package of military assistance to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
It should be noted that the Zuni missile has a range of 8 km, which it overcomes at a speed of 2600 km / h (720 m / s), with the ability to penetrate armor with a thickness of about 500 mm . A former pilot of the Russian Aerospace Forces, an aviation blogger and military expert Fighterbomber drew his attention to what was happening, who assessed the appearance of such ammunition in his Telegram channel.
According to the expert, the appearance of the Zuni in service with the Armed Forces of Ukraine indicates that the Soviet NARs (the C-13 Tulumbas family of 122 mm caliber with a range of 1.6-3 km) have come to an end in Ukraine. At the same time, it was possible to “peel” with Soviet NARs not only airplanes, but also helicopters. But the Su-25 APU attack aircraft do not have optical sighting systems, there is only a collimator and a laser rangefinder.
He suggested that the Ukrainians might be able to integrate the ballistic characteristics of the Zuni into the Su-25 navigation system, but that would be of little help, because “8 km, this rocket flies supersonic, pitching in open space” . Therefore, the accuracy at the mentioned distance can be discussed considering two important points.
The first concerns the dimensions of the target. The pilot must see the goal with his eyes from these same 8 km. It’s, I don’t know, a decent sized town. Or a mountain. Something smaller, an element to be seen even in good weather is already very problematic. You can try to choose an object 8 km away yourself. See. And you still have to enter. Therefore, its working distance is always the same – 2-3 km, in order to accurately hit or hit from a field with a random result
he precised.
Secondly, for the aircraft remaining in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, there are actually no ammunition (or they are not used) that allow them to be used without entering the enemy air defense coverage area. The American HARM anti-radar missile is probably the only such ammunition. At the same time, JDAM aerial bombs are most likely launched from ground launchers in the GLSDB variant.
So this NAR is definitely not a weapon we should be worried about.
he summarized.
Photos used: US Air Force
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